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Layers of Chic

OSKA offers style and smarts for the discerning woman

Story and photos by EDDIE RIVERA, Living Section EditorPublished: Monday, December 9, 2013 | 6:42 PM

No one needs to tell you how smart layering is for winter wear, but too often layering consists of this piece and that piece, until itâ€™s not layering, itâ€™s pizza. OSKA truly defines the idea of layering, creating beautiful individual parts of the picture, which stand alone, or work together like a great bandâ€”each element unique and timeless. The store, in the One Colorado shopping plaza, features a host of stylish parts, from jackets and pants to vests to caps, all beautifully designed to complement each other.

Layered looks at OSKA.

â€œYou know, you go outside and you see yourself next to a lady wearing the same outfit,â€ says OSKAâ€™s Diane Bowden.Â â€œThatâ€™s never OSKA.Â OSKA is very architectural, with unique, beautiful fabrics.â€

As the Southern California fall turned to a nippy winter this week, Bowden was dressed comfortably and elegantly in OSKA pants, paired with a long-sleeved top and scarf, the whole and the parts equally striking.

â€œWhat is beautiful about OSKA,â€ she says, â€œis that, I made this look for the holidays, but it doesnâ€™t necessarily need to be.â€ She addresses a wool jacket in a display. â€œYou could change it so it matched with this boiled wool fabric that has many different colors in it. So you could see sort of black there, so if you put on a pair of black pants, the look is totally differentâ€¦â€

As Bowden describes it, â€œOur customer is a well-traveled woman who likes the comfort, but also wants to look chic while theyâ€™re traveling, for example.â€

The OSKA look is striking, but easily at home in an urban setting or an airport lounge. Because of the wide range of combinations available from tops to accessories, itâ€™s a look that is at once European and local.

â€œWe can dress a young woman size zero to a woman wearing (a larger size) and dress them equally beautifully and stylishly, and surprisingly enough, theyâ€™re wearing the same item, but they look totally different,â€ Bowden added.

â€œItâ€™s not like mass production,â€ says Bowden of the Munich-designed clothing line. â€œWhen we get a collection, which is basically two times a year, I might only get one size 0, and maybe one size 2.â€ Â Clearly, weâ€™re not at Target anymore, Toto.

â€œWhen I go home,â€ Bowden chuckles, â€œMy mom tells me, â€˜Why do you dress so nicely for traveling?â€™ â€œThis is wool,â€ she laughs, fingering the fabric. â€œItâ€™s warm, itâ€™s chic looking, but itâ€™s comfortable.â€ Just like the store.